Polyvinyl ethers are common articles of commerce, being employed in a variety of end-uses. For instance, some polyvinyl ethers are tacky and so they are used in adhesives. Other uses include plasticizers, surgical casts, viscosity modifiers, and fuel pour point depressants.
Vinyl ethers may be polymerized by a variety of methods, including being catalyzed by Lewis and Bronsted acids; see for example, C. G. Cho, et al., Macromolecules, vol. 23, p. 1918-1923 (1990).
It has been reported that trialkylsilyl triflates catalyze the polymerization of vinyl ethers, but this has been shown to be due to triflic acid that is formed by hydrolysis of the silyl triflate, see, for example, C. G. Cho, et al., Macromolecules, vol. 25, p. 2018-2085 (1992). No mention is made of any other triflates which catalyze the polymerization of vinyl ethers.